Hip boot holdup harness



Jan. 31, 1956 J. w. STARR HIP BOOT HOLDUP HARNESS Filed Dec. 11, 1952 FlG.--2

INVENTOR.

Joseph W. S-Torr fmfzi ATTORNEYS United States Patent HIP BOOT HOLDUP HARNESS Joseph W. Starr-,Denve'r, Com.

Application December 11, 152, Serial No. 325,409

Z-Glaims. '(Cl. 2-:-305) This invention relates to holdup harness for hip boots. One of the objects of the invention is to produce an improved holdup harness for hip boots that will be comfortable on the wearer, will hold up the tops of hip boots in an efiicient manner and without any undue strain or force on the wearer, regardless of movements of the body, and further will at all times retain a good holding position on the shoulders of the wearer.

Another object is to produce a shoulder type harness for holding up hip boots which will be simple in construction, economical to manufacture and easy to put on and take off the wearer and easy to attach to and detach from boots.

Other objects of my invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view of my improved hip boot holdup harness as seen from the side of a person wearing same;

Figure 2 is a back view of the wearer showing the manner in which the harness is worn; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the harness when not being worn and detached from the boots.

My improved harness to hold up hip boots comprises a main supporting portion to be placed in association with the shoulders of the wearer of the boots. I prefer to construct this supporting portion from a single strap or tape S made from webbing, although it may be made from other material such as leather, plastic, etc. The material also may be elastic, but I prefer that it be nonstretchable as other resilient structure is to be employed. As shown, the single strap S is arranged to provide for two strap members and 11. To accomplish this the strap is folded upon itself at two spaced points intermediate its ends, the folded points being indicated by the numerals 12 and 13. The two end portions of the strips 14 and 15 are arranged in overlapping relation, as shown, to establish a slot or eye 16. The extent of overlap is considerably greater than the width of the strap material used to construct the main supporting portion of the harness. In establishing the slot, the extreme ends of the strap, after the end portions are placed in overlapping relation, are attached as by sewing to the strap, as indicated at 17 and 18. Before this sewing is done to form the strap member 11, the strap member 10 will be placed between the overlapped end portions so it will pass through the slot or eye being established and have free sliding movement in said slot. The two strap members established by the single piece strap, as described, will have equal lengths.

The single strap at the two folded points is passed through D-rings 19 and 20. This is done before the overlapping end portions are sewed together. The folded points and the D-rings thus establish the two ends of the main supporting portion of the harness. At the ends the folded portions are secured together as by sewing, the sewing being indicated at 21 and 22. In sewing the folded portions together, they are arranged in diverging relation from the fold line, as shown.

The remainderofimy' improved harness 1 comprises two elongated resilient member's, preferably in the form-of coil springs 23 and 24. Coil spring 23 has one of its ends connected 'to the D-ring '19 and" attached to theother end is 'a-snap 25 for 'quiok attaching and detaching of the-harness to the topo'f one hip boot. The other'coil spring 24 has one of its ends connected to the other D-ring 20and" to the other end-of this spring is attached a snap '26'for quick attaching and detaching of 'theharness to the top of the other hip boot.

When the -ha'rnejss isused as illustrated in Figures '1 and 2, the arms-of -the weare'r are inserted through the two strap members 1 0anjd 11 'atthe two openings between the ends of the "harness at the 'D-rings and the crossover point at the center of the harness. The insertion of the arms is made so the crossover point of the harness will be at the back of the wearer as illustrated in Figure 2. This will cause one of the strap members (11, as illustrated) going over the left shoulder and under the right arm, and the other strap member (10, as illustrated) going over the right shoulder and under the left arm. All straps will lie flat on the wearers body. At the crossover point in the back each strap member is free to have movement relatively to the other in any direction (due to the size of the slot) so that no binding or pulling will take place to cause discomfort to the wearer. The ends of the supporting portion of the harness, as formed by the strap members at the D-rings, will be underneath the arm pits of the wearer and slightly forward and also near the waist band of the wearers trousers. The coil springs with the snap attached ends will then hang downwardly as shown in Figure 1 where the springs can be stretched to some extent and attached to the rings or other members on the tops of the hip boots. These springs will have the desired pull on the tops of the hip boots to keep them up and supported by the wearers shoulders. There will be no pulling on the trouser belt of the wearer as is present when the ordinary holdup straps on hip boots are attached to the belt. The springs with the free relative movement in any direction of both strap members at the crossover point in the back of the harness insures no uncomfortable pulling on the wearer, regardless of what position he may assume or what he may do, such as stooping, leaning, moving of arms, walking, etc. The tops of the boots will be held up with a gentle pull and will remain in their proper position.

It will be noted that my improved harness is simple in construction and cheap to make. The supporting portion is made of a single length of strap material in such a way that the crossover point and the slot arrangement are easily provided. All parts of the strap will be fiat against the wearer for comfort. The boot top attaching springs and snaps are sufficiently forward on the wearer to permit easy attachment of the snap to the boot tops.

I am aware that changes in details of the harness construction can be made without departing from the fundamental principles of my invention, and I therefore desire it to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited except in accordance with the terms of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A hip boot holdup harness comprising a single strap folded upon itself at spaced points intermediate its ends with the portions at the folds being secured together in diverging relation and the ends of the strap being secured in overlapping relation with each end portion passing on opposite sides of the central portion of the strap between the fold points, each end of the strap being so secured to the strap at a point spaced from the other end as to thereby form a slot considerably longer than the width of the strap and in which said central portion can move freely through the slot and also freely shift longitudinally in the slot relatively to its ends, rings carried by the folded portions, an elongated resilient member secured at one of its ends to each ring, and a snap secured to the other end of each resilient member.

2. A hip boot holdup harness comprising a single strap folded upon itself at spaced points intermediate its ends with the portions at the folds being secured together in diverging relation and the ends of the strap being secured in overlapping relation with each end portion passing on opposite sides of the central portion of the strap between the fold points, each end of the strap being so secured to the strap at a point spaced from the other end as to thereby form a slot considerably longer than the width of the strap and in which said central portion can move freely through the slot and also freely shift longitudinally in the slot relatively to its ends, an elongated resilient member secured at one of its ends to each folded point of the strap, and means carried by the other end of each resilient member for detachably securing it to the top of a hip boot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 3,615 Harris Aug. 24, 1869 50,351 Greely Oct. 10, 1865 914,268 Hall Mar. 2, 1909 1,376,750 Egerton et al. May 3, 1921 1,413,017 Foster Apr. 18, 1922 1,694,735 Eskridge Dec. 11, 1928 1,823,369 McCulloch Sept. 15, 1931 2,440,982 Speller et al. May 4, 1948 

